As I mentioned in my previous post about the guest room, I've been thinking about adding an upholstered headboard to the bed because it's looking a little lonely and disconnected:


 
The next one I knew was going to be too busy, and too bright, (the picture doesn't really show it, but it is a lot greener in person).  We were however getting closer to the price which we were comfortable paying, $24.99 (plus the 50% off to make it $12.50). 
 

One of my goals now that I've finished painting (much to Mike's delight - ha!), is to add color, and stay away from my favorite grays.  This is why I knew the next fabric wouldn't work, because one the pattern is again too busy for a headboard, and also, the color completely fades into the wall:


With the other choices falling flat, the solid green fabric was left.  I liked the middle green which was an olive-y color that had some gray tones (as opposed to bluish tones).  With the price at $24.99 we may have found a winner:

I knew the silver leaf wouldn't be perfect and cover the whole canvas, and to be honest I wanted it to look a little distressed, that's why I started by painting the canvas a light green (including the edges).


After waiting about an hour for the paint to dry, I sprayed the canvas with the spray adhesive, not forgetting about the edges, which would be covered too.  The directions then said to wait 2-3 minutes for the adhesive to get tacky.  Then it was simply adding the silver leaf squares in a grid pattern until the canvas was covered.  A trick that I read was to use wax paper cut a little larger than the leaf square to move and attached it to the canvas.  The leaf is attracted to the wax paper and rubbing the wax paper on the leaf helps to ensure the leaf temporary sticks to the wax paper.  This made it easy to pick up and place the leaf onto the canvas without ripping, (or catching a breeze and flying away, which only happened once when I tried it without the wax paper).


(The orange sheets are the separator sheets that make it easy to pick up one piece at a time.  I tried using those to move the leafs, but they didn't stick to them like the wax paper.)

Here's a progress shot a little over half the way through:


As you add more, the edges overlap and are removed by brushing over lightly with a soft paint brush.  The more you rub with the brush, the more is removed.  I got pretty aggressive along the edges, because I wanted to make sure the green would show through.  After cleaning up all the pieces not stuck down to the adhesive, I sprayed the whole thing with the spray sealer, once in one direction, then another in the opposite direction.

In the end I like the overall look of it, and I like the contrast of the shiny silver leaf and the wall, I just think it would look better with a different colored wall.  Mike and I have talked about drawing something in black paint like a simple outline or silhouette, but we haven't agreed on anything, so it will sit like this until inspiration strikes:


By the way, the glass bowl usually holds wine corks that we've collected, but the little furball prefers them scattered on the floor, and doesn't let them sit in there for more than an hour before pawing them all out.

I especially love the picture frames ledges I bought at Ikea that are over the guest room bed.  They are so simple (and cheap!), and they provide a huge impact when you want to display many photos, but don't want the whole wall to be filled. 

I thought of these when trying to decide how to fill the void that is our living room wall:


Both the wall behind the chair, and the adjacent wall behind the TV felt very lonely to me.  I felt like a genius when I thought to create a corner picture frame ledge.  Brilliant, right?  Well, apparently Pottery Barn thought so too:

Via Pottery Barn

They might have thought of it first, but I was going to make it better.  I mean, spending less than $576 is already making it better in my book, (yes, that's the price I would pay for the dimensions I wanted).  So, I went back to my tried and true friend Ikea for more picture ledges.  At $15 a pop, I figured I'd be safe with 6, which turned out to be perfect.  I also picked up a cart load of frames knowing that if they didn't make it on the ledges, I could find somewhere else to put them.

Before I could even start shopping I had to get the okay from the boyfriend.  Of course he thought I was crazy, but I decided to make him a little picture to show him what I was going for:


Yes, I uploaded a picture into Paint and used a paintbrush to draw shelves and picture frames.  You can be impressed of my mad skills, it's allowed.

To start the actual project, I started by taping out where I thought I'd like the ledges to be along the wall.  I eyeballed it, and added pieces until I got the final lengths. 


We used the 6 store bought ledges to get the desired lengths.  I then had the handy boyfriend miter the edges to 45° to fit nicely in the corners. 


He then added biscuits to give the joints extra stability.  Although you should glue these joints together, then wait about an hour before mounting, the 40° weather didn't allow for this step.  Yes, something we figured out after gluing and waiting an hour.  We figured the biscuits would be enough to keep the joints from shifting after we mounted them.





After the biscuits, we took everything inside, made sure our lines were level, then mounted the shelves.  It really was that easy.  The shelves come with pre-drilled holes, so as Mike held the shelves in place, I handed him the tools and he got it done.






The only problem we had when retro-fitting the pre-made shelves were the seams didn't always line up exact.  If we didn't live in a 83 year-old house, this might not have been an issue, but our plaster walls are far from smooth.  But that's what gives them character right...right?


A quick once over with the Sharpie and the noticeable seams were no more.


Add some of my Ikea picture frames, and the project was complete.  Now, like half of the frames in my house, I just have to figure out what to put in the frames.